


Zero Exposé

by Shadowstalk (NeoDiji)



Category: Code Geass
Genre: Family, Friendship, Gen, Humor, Mysteries, Reveal, Revelation, Secret Identity, Secrets in General
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-10-03
Updated: 2018-02-08
Packaged: 2018-08-19 05:43:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 8,963
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8192380
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NeoDiji/pseuds/Shadowstalk
Summary: Tamaki wondered briefly, in an extremely rare flash of insight, at the absurdity that they'd discovered Zero's humanity still without seeing his face. (Wherein Tamaki levels his gun at the worst possible person, and Zero does not react well.) / Collection of oneshots where the Black Knights discover one or more of their mysterious leader's secrets. Gen fics. No pairings.





	1. Triggered Reaction

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: I do not own nor make any profit off of Code Geass.
> 
> Welcome to Zero Exposé, a collection of unrelated oneshots revolving around one or more of the Black Knights discovering one or more of their leader's many secrets. This includes but may not necessarily mean Zero's identity or Zero actually being unmasked. Some ficlets will branch off canon while others will be completely AU. Some will be serious and others more crack-ish. That said, beware OOC-ness. Also beware spoilers, language, violence, adult implications – it's Code Geass. Honestly, anything goes. These will be Gen fics, so no outright pairings. Above all, I hope you enjoy.

It was all so thrilling.

Especially for one badass Shinichiro Tamaki.

The ultimate battle for Japan was underway, and the passionate Black Knight felt a rush of adrenaline as he kicked open a door and leveled his gun at a small group of assembled Britannians. Students. Whatever. They were still the enemy.

"Hands up and turn around! The Black Knights control this school. All of you are now our hostages!" Tamaki yelled, flexing his finger on the trigger. Heh, this was fun. It was always satisfying to throw his power around. A couple lower-ranking Black Knights filed in after him, following his lead and pointing their own guns at the defenseless teenagers.

A blue-haired high school boy stepped up and spread his arms protectively in front of the others. "Lower your guns!" the boy ordered, though Tamaki could hear a tremor of fear lacing his words. That's right. He _should_ be scared.

Tamaki snarled and took a menacing step closer, brandishing his weapon. "That's a hell of a thing to say in this situation!" he returned, ignoring the hiss of a cat behind him. They were the _Black Knights_. How dare these stupid Brit kids challenge _them_?

After some whispered back-and-forth between the students, the blue-haired boy stretched his arms out even further and raised his voice to proclaim, "I'll protect _everyone_."

Tamaki sneered at the boy's audacity as he taunted him. "Is that a fact?!" He raised his gun again, causing the students to flinch and gasp. High on power, he still showed mercy by hitting the boy over the head instead of outright shooting. Insolent or not, these _were_ just high school kids. They were _Kallen's_ age, which hit somewhere a little too close to home—and Tamaki wasn't even the sentimental type.

The blue-haired boy crumpled to the floor amidst calls of his name. Something weirdly Britannian; who cared? Tamaki didn't really pay much attention.

Shaking his head, the belligerent Black Knight took another step closer and lorded himself over the fallen Brit boy. "Anyone else wanna mess with me?" he demanded, glaring at each of the school girls in turn. To make his point, he clicked off the safety on his gun as he slowly lowered it. He meant business, and playtime was over. His gun ended up pointing at the girl in the wheelchair.

All the students froze at the purpose behind his movements. Even the blind and crippled girl seemed to realize what was at stake.

After a few moments of tense silence, the door banged open and Ohgi ran in. "Zero, it's the—wait, where's Zero?"

Tamaki shrugged. "Kicking Britannian ass," he answered confidently. "He's got bigger problems than cleaning out the Brit trash from our command center."

"Your _command center_?!" spluttered the blonde girl from where she'd frozen, kneeling beside her unconscious friend.

Ohgi winced, and Tamaki could have hit him for showing such weakness in front of the enemy—even if they were just students.

Rubbing the back of his neck self-consciously, Ohgi explained, "Yeah, see. Zero thought Ashford Academy would be a useful place for our command center."

"So we're taking it for our own," Tamaki jumped in before Ohgi could do something stupid, like apologize for the inconvenience. The redhead waved his initial back-up lackeys away; after all, he had the deputy commander now. Take that, bitches. "And there's nothing you can do to stop us," Tamaki finished with a sneer towards the teens. To do damage control and – well, really, he just wanted to scare the piss out of them, Tamaki took measured steps over to the hostages and purposefully pressed his gun against the disabled girl's forehead. Heh. That oughta teach 'em.

Ohgi's eyes widened along with the students' at his actions. "Tamaki," he pleaded. "I know this is war, but they're just kids."

"They're _Britannians_ ," Tamaki stressed, keeping his gun in place with a hard look at the terrified students. It wasn't like he was _actually_ going to shoot, but what was wrong with scaring them? The brats would be more cooperative in the end, which was the whole point. Kids these days.

Ohgi swallowed. "Besides, didn't Zero say—"

" _ **NUNNALLY!**_ "

Zero's synthesized voice echoed from the mask in a roar as he entered the room, flanked by Kallen.

All faces, students and Black Knights alike, snapped towards Zero with quizzical looks.

The masked leader's attention, however, seemed to be only on the girl in the wheelchair. He started to hurry to her side – Tamaki had _never_ seen the guy move so fast – before glancing at Tamaki's gun and freezing in place, hand stretched towards the blind girl. "Tamaki," he hissed, voice low and dangerous and Tamaki had _never_ heard Zero sound that outraged and threatening, not even at Britannia—

"Lower. Your. Gun," Zero growled, emphasizing each word clearly and with meaning. Then, before Tamaki could even move to follow the order, he impatiently snapped again: " _Lower your_ _ **damn**_ _gun!_ "

Wordlessly, for once, Tamaki complied and stepped away from the girl, eyes wide and mouth open. The students' murmuring was white noise in the background. There was something like angry panic in Zero's order, identifiable even with the mask and voice synthesizer. Tamaki knew angry panic—uh, not that he experienced it almost daily or anything. He was too cool for that. Zero, though, Zero had _never_ sounded so shaken, not even in the face of imminent death. Tamaki remembered Narita very vividly, not to mention all those other close calls.

Ohgi stepped forward to take Tamaki's weapon, somehow sensing this would put their masked leader at ease, and the redhead mindlessly handed it over. His head was absolutely reeling from Zero's strange behavior. What the hell was _this_ all about? Most of the time Zero confused him to no end anyway, but this was taking the cake.

With the threat neutralized, Zero seemed to allow himself to rush to the girl's side. He pushed past the students and slipped into a—practiced?—graceful crouch by the girl's wheelchair, his cape fluttering behind him. His gloved hands immediately reached out to clasp one of the girl's hands—Tamaki had _never_ seen Zero act so tenderly—and his masked face tilted up at the wheelchair-bound girl from his spot on the floor.

Zero. _Kneeling on the floor_.

For a _Britannian_.

Welp, that confirmed it. Zero was completely off his rocker. To be fair, Tamaki had always thought Zero was crazy.

"Oh my god," gasped the blonde girl, staring at Zero with her eyes bugging out. "Oh my god. _Oh my god._ " Under her hands, the blue-haired boy was starting to stir. The orange-haired girl standing behind the wheelchair looked the least confused, but her gaze was still questioning as she looked upon the infamous leader of the Black Knights.

Tamaki rolled his eyes. Ungrateful brats. They really didn't deserve to see Zero up close and personal. It wasn't like _they_ were his friends.

Minami chose that moment to poke his head in—probably looking for Ohgi because he'd been gone so long—and grew very still at the scene. Slowly, as if in a trance, he walked over to his comrades, never taking his eyes off of Zero in the middle of the group.

Kallen joined them for uniformity, and Tamaki wondered whether she was as struck speechless as the rest of them or if she just didn't want to say anything in case her voice gave her away to her schoolmates. She'd always been close to Zero, so maybe his current behavior wasn't as bizarre to her as it was to the rest of them. There was no way to ask her now.

Tamaki wondered what each of his fellow Knights thought of this weird turn of events, but there was no time to linger on that as the blind girl tentatively reached up with her free hand and traced Zero's mask with questing fingertips.

Zero immediately leaned into her touch. "Nu-nnally," he breathed, voice hitching but booming from the technology inside his mask, and scooted a little closer. "Are you all right? Are you hurt?"

"I'm…fine," the disabled girl answered, her brow furrowing. "Who is this? Are _you_ Zero? _The_ Zero?"

For a long moment, Zero seemed unable to talk. Tamaki had _never_ known Zero to go silent. Wasn't this the man who had words for anything? Instead, the masked leader just squeezed the blind girl's hand harder.

"Then, how?" asked the girl, moving her free hand to clutch Zero's shoulder. "Why did you…?"

The blue-haired boy lifted his head, waking up fully at long last to _this_ news-worthy event, and his jaw dropped. "What the hell?!" he exclaimed. The blonde girl hurriedly shushed him with a hand over his mouth. Tamaki aimed a light kick at them for daring to interrupt his leader.

A full-body shudder went through Zero before he spoke, seeming to choose his words as carefully as ever. His attention was obviously still laser-focused on the blind girl in the wheelchair. "For your peaceful world. So you can live happily. I couldn't let anything happen to you," he explained raggedly. Just like always, the words were powerful and moving because they came straight from his heart. Unlike always, there was raw and honest truth, with no ulterior motives detected in his voice.

Ohgi let out a soft breath of relief and smiled. Tamaki remembered that the deputy commander had been worried before that maybe Zero had lost his humanity somewhere along the way; seeing the masked leader with this frail girl proved that he did, indeed, still have a heart. Minami moved to wipe away a stray tear. Kallen's jaw clenched and unclenched, as if she was dying to say something but was keeping herself in check. Tamaki couldn't bring himself to do anything other than gape like an idiot.

"I see," the girl—Nunnally—finally said. She lowered her face, tears falling from behind her eyes for the first time that night, and struggled to free her hand from Zero's tight grip.

A choked sound emitted from behind the mask, startling all of the room's occupants once again.

Ohgi moved forward, probably intending to help their clearly upset leader, but Kallen stopped him with a hand on his elbow and a nod to the blind girl. Tamaki barely noticed them because he was too busy staring at the Britannian girl as she, once free, all but _flung_ herself out of her wheelchair and into Zero's arms, throwing her own arms around his shoulders and burying her sobbing face into his chest.

Zero moved to automatically enfold her in a loving embrace, murmuring, "Nunnally, Nunnally." He comfortingly smoothed a gloved hand over her hair as he shushed her and started rocking her. "It's all right, Nunnally. It's going to be okay. I've got you."

Tamaki still couldn't tear his eyes away, but he was positive that he wasn't the only one gawking.

Nunnally burrowed closer but finally lifted her head away enough to accuse, "You did all this for _my_ sake, didn't you, big brother?"

"Holy _hell_ ," the blue-haired boy breathed.

"Holy _**hell**_ ," Tamaki echoed.

Ohgi startled at the declaration, his eyes widening to the biggest they'd been all night—which was saying something. Tamaki would have laughed at his old friend had he not been sure that his own eyes were even wider. Minami gasped and covered his mouth with his hand, while Kallen stepped forward towards the Ashford students and then back towards the Black Knights, seemingly torn between whom to stand with for support.

Of course the Black Knights had speculated about who Zero _really_ was behind that mask. They'd wondered about who he was, why he was fighting Britannia, how he operated…

Despite the Black Knights' attempts to probe into his personal life, Zero had always been so careful to portray himself as a symbol. He, himself, was nothing—hence "Zero"—but now he was revealed as _something_ to this weak and disabled Britannian girl, to Nunnally, to his _little sister_.

Zero had human ties after all.

Zero had _motivation_ for opposing Britannia's "strong dominates weak" mentality.

Tamaki wondered briefly, in an extremely rare flash of insight, at the absurdity that they'd discovered Zero's humanity still without seeing his face.

"You didn't have to go this far!" Nunnally continued, still shaken. "I would've been happy just living with you. That's all I wanted," she cried.

"And you will live with me," Zero reassured her, his response confirming his identity. "In the new and better world that I'll build from the ashes of this one." The promise sounded a bit menacing spoken through the mask's voice distorter and amplifier.

Tamaki blinked and looked to Ohgi for guidance. This had to be the freaking twilight zone. _Zero_ did not go around acting comforting and…and…having little sisters for crying out loud! Zero was supposed to be nothing more than a merciless revolutionary who would free Japan. That was it. Anything more at this stage in the game would blow Tamaki's simple little mind.

The blue-haired boy laughed weakly in response to Zero's words. "Hold on a minute. You said you didn't want to run a corporation 'cause it would ruin your health…but building a new world is somehow less stressful?" he demanded. He paused, then tacked on a bit uncertainly, "Lelouch?"

Okay, now Tamaki's mind was blown. Now Zero had a _name_. A _Britannian_ name. Which fit, because he had a _Britannian_ little sister. Because they were _Britannian_. _**Zero**_ was _Britannian_.

Somehow, it hadn't clicked until then.

Tamaki didn't have long to process this information before the orange-haired schoolgirl said simply, as if it couldn't be more obvious, "Of _course_ it's Lelouch."

Everyone turned to look at her in question. Even Zero jerked around at that, and his arm flailed; his movements seemed startled, as if he'd forgotten he had an audience. That was odd in itself, too, because Zero was _always_ performing; he acted like he had an invisible camera following him around. (This was even before Diethard followed him around with an _actual_ camera, which just seemed to make Zero's dramatic theatrics even worse…or better, depending on how one looked at it.) The Black Knights had just come to expect their leader's quirky acts. It was a part of him. Tamaki totally respected that.

The masked leader shifted uneasily on the ground, but still kept a tight hold on his sister with one arm. "You knew?" he demanded. Now he'd _really_ confirmed his identity. (You know, in case Tamaki needed a good reminder. Well damn.)

"You _knew_ , Shirley?" echoed the blonde girl, giving the Black Knights the schoolgirl's name in the process. Not that Tamaki really cared about the girl's name, but she had a nice rack and he was always after names of girls with nice racks. The speaking blonde chick had an even nicer rack. "Is that why you two had that big fight…?"

"Is that why you don't call him 'Lelou' anymore?" input the blue-haired boy hurriedly.

Tamaki revered Zero. He thought higher of no one else on the planet. He respected Zero for all the amazing miracles he'd pulled off in the name of Japan's freedom, and he'd bust anyone's ass who didn't agree with his opinion of the man. _No one_ made light of Zero while Tamaki was around. _However_ , all that being said, he couldn't help but snort at the nickname.

Zero very slowly turned his head in the loudmouth Knight's direction. "Is something funny, Tamaki?" he demanded stiffly.

"Uh…" Tamaki said, shuffling his feet awkwardly. "It's just…I didn't expect the great and powerful _Zero_ to be a _Lulu_." The redhead Knight didn't mean to be disrespectful, but a part of his brain wondered if Zero even had a dick. He didn't _say_ it, even he wasn't that stupid, but Zero sometimes seemed to have creepy weird powers with all the shit he knew and was able to pull off and, okay, maybe Tamaki was a bit scared of the dude sometimes. Like now. Zero probably knew what Tamaki was thinking anyway. He was just _that_ good.

Ohgi promptly jumped in with, "Not that it's anything to be ashamed of, Zero. It's a lovely name."

"Freaking suck up!" Tamaki accused.

" _You_ insulted him," Minami pointed out, "which is worse."

Zero hugged Nunnally to him even closer and calmly said, "Oh, don't worry. Tamaki already sealed his fate when he pointed a gun at my little sister." He simply ignored any discussion about his name, probably deeming it irrelevant. Zero tended to do that a lot—discount things he deemed beneath his attention. At least that hadn't changed.

Tamaki blanched. "I didn't _know_ it was your little sister!" Ignorance had saved him before. Sweet, sweet ignorance—

"I expressly said no violence!" Zero snapped.

" _That's_ what I was trying to tell you before!" Ohgi crowed triumphantly.

"So it shouldn't have mattered!" Zero finished. "My orders were clear. You disobeyed them."

Well, ignorance had failed him that time. Tamaki frowned and whined, "I didn't actually shoot her, ya know."

Zero shrugged. "You aimed at her, which is more than enough. Besides that, you still hurt Rivalz."

The redhead Knight's face scrunched up in confusion. "Who the hell is Rivalz?"

The blue-haired boy raised his hand.

"Oh, that punk," Tamaki realized. He really hadn't been paying attention before. "The brat challenged me."

Rivalz grimaced and massaged the bump on his head. "I was trying to protect everyone from the invading terrorists!"

Ignoring Rivalz, Zero waved his free arm again in his usual elaborate fashion. "I _said_ : no violence."

Before the loudmouth Knight could argue, Nunnally piped up with a sweet, "Lelouch, could you please follow your own rules and spare this man? He didn't actually hurt me, and I don't want him to suffer over this."

Tamaki was stunned into silence yet again. Why did this girl have his back after he'd pointed a flipping _gun_ at her head? Wasn't she Britannian? (Like Zero, supplied Tamaki's ever-helpful brain. _Shut up_ , he told himself.) Britannians were godawful bastards who didn't give a crap about anybody they hurt. Tamaki knew all about that.

"Nunnally…" Zero said wonderingly, his voice trailing off. Finally, he sighed, shoulders hunching inwards as he acquiesced to his forgiving little sister's request. "Very well," he said. "If that's what you want, Nunnally, then I'll do it for you." He turned his mask towards Tamaki. "However, I don't trust you around her."

Swallowing audibly, Tamaki nodded his head. He understood – for once.

Out of nowhere, the blonde girl said, "Great, now that that's taken care of, has everyone forgotten that Shirley knew Lelouch was Zero? Geez, and Suzaku's also part of this whole mess. Half the Student Council seems to be involved." Sarcastically, she continued, "At this rate, it wouldn't surprise me if we found out Kallen was tangled up in all this, too." At that, she started laughing hysterically, obviously having a hard time processing the night's revelations.

Tamaki couldn't blame her. He was having a hard time, too—oh wait, he didn't really feel bad for her. Even though she had a nice rack, she was still Britannian. Freaking Britannians.

Zero turned towards the group of Black Knights and nodded his permission. "Go ahead, Q-1," he said, and waited for Kallen to slip off her concealing visor.

"Holy hell," Rivalz breathed again. Tamaki was beginning to think this boy was some kind of miniature Britannian version of him, which somehow made him a little cooler.

The blonde stopped mid-laugh, blue eyes wide again. "I was just messing around!" she protested. Gathering herself, she wiped her eyes and said in a more serious tone, "There's just a surprise behind _every_ corner tonight, isn't there?"

Tamaki cocked his head at his school-aged comrade. He remembered Kallen had a cover life with these kids outside the rebellion—like Zero, what the hell—and it was a big deal for her to put it all out there. Trying to show some good old-fashioned support for his younger friend, Tamaki stepped up and placed a hand on her shoulder.

Kallen instinctively shrugged him off. She let Ohgi put _his_ hand on her other shoulder, though, and Tamaki narrowed his eyes. The _nerve_!

Eyes flickering between uncertain and steely, Kallen stepped forward slightly. "Lelouch?" she questioned, ignoring her fellow students' reactions to her for the moment. "You've been Zero…this whole time?" The betrayal on her face washed away as she again noticed Nunnally in Zero's arms. He may not have been Japanese, but he _did_ have reason to fight. Even Tamaki could see that.

"You _didn't know?_ " Shirley asked. "You were his Black Knight and you _didn't know?_ "

"How did _you_ know?" Kallen demanded, turning on the orange-haired girl.

Tamaki wondered the same thing. How could a simple girl discover one of the greatest secrets of their time? How did she figure it out when even Tamaki himself couldn't?

Shirley-of-the-nice-rack looked down. "I don't understand it myself," she admitted. She sneaked a peek at the masked man still on the floor. Giving herself a little shake, she went on, "One day I found a crumpled up letter under my desk. It was my own writing, even though I don't remember doing it. In my letter, I wrote about how confused I was that the guy I liked – Lelouch – turned out to be my father's murderer…Zero."

Listening intently, Zero flinched. Ohgi gasped in empathy. Minami was seriously crying now. Kallen and the other teens seemed to be holding their breath. It was such an intense moment.

Tamaki's jaw just dropped in awe. Zero was _such_ a babe magnet. He had C.C., Kallen, and now this Shirley chick digging him. The part where Zero killed her father? Totally not as important as the fact that Zero's harem just seemed to grow. Tamaki had to respect the dude for that. Bro code and all.

"I don't remember how I found out the first time," Shirley continued, drawing Tamaki's attention back to her chest—er, that is, her face. Her very distraught face. Yeah, that. "I swear I don't remember even _knowing_ Lelouch, let alone _liking_ him!" She rounded on Zero and pointed a finger at him. "But I know you did something to me! Something to make me forget! I've been so terrified that things aren't lining up!"

Zero hunched over a little and said the unthinkable. "…I'm sorry."

Tamaki gaped again. He'd _never_ known Zero to apologize. Seriously, who _was_ this man tonight? And, like, Zero having creepy weird powers? Tamaki totally called that. Or else the guy was just crazy. Tamaki totally called that, too.

"Big brother, what did you do to Shirley?" Nunnally asked ruefully.

Zero very lovingly wiped the tears from his little sister's face. "It's as she said," he answered. "I just…helped her forget."

"O ** _ho_** ," trilled the blonde chick with a devilish smirk. Tamaki leered automatically at the suggestive tone. Ohgi blinked, waited for the implication to settle, and then blushed profusely. The response seemed out-of-place considering the circumstances, but the blonde simply seemed to be acting on instinct; Tamaki could totally relate to the embarrassed foot-in-mouth look on the girl's face after her rather inappropriate comment.

" _Not like that!_ " Zero growled while waving an arm about haphazardly. The limb was flailing faster than ever.

Rivalz-the-cool-punk sighed. _He_ really didn't seem to understand that this wasn't the direction the conversation should go because he kept it up with, "Man, he upgrades his status from Vice President of the Student Council to a dark and mysterious head of the biggest terrorist organization in Area 11 and he's _still_ a virgin."

Tamaki blinked _again_. That couldn't be right. Zero was a freaking badass and so many girls were looking to jump him. Harem, remember? Even that young Kyoto Group girl, Kaguya, wanted in Zero's pants. There was no way the dude still had his V-card with all the interest he received, right? And wasn't that C.C. bitch Zero's mistress? Yeah, Tamaki was pretty sure that mistresses were there for sex stuff. Which Zero had. Because he had a mistress. That was Logic 101, obviously Tamaki's strong suit.

Zero protectively covered his little sister's ears from the topic of conversation, but otherwise made no move to show he'd heard.

Ohgi was still blushing; he was doing a wonderful fish-out-of-water impression. Minami cleared his throat awkwardly, and Kallen just looked to the side, also blushing. Shirley was the reddest of all, her hands twisting in her skirt – which honestly just drew Tamaki's attention there instead. Zero was a damn lucky bastard.

"GUTS!" screamed the blond chick, interrupting Tamaki's one-track mind. She was clearly trying to make up for derailing the discussion, which Tamaki couldn't relate to at all because he totally did nothing wrong in the first place. Ever. "Focus, people!"

"This isn't a Student Council meeting, Milly!" Zero shot back, effectively steering the conversation back towards serious matters. "Your 'magic spells' aren't going to work. This is war. In fact, I have a battle to lead. As educational as this must have been for you all, it doesn't change the reality of what's going on." He paused, then turned his masked face to each of the room's occupants.

Tamaki wondered why the guy still hadn't taken the damn thing off. It wasn't as if they didn't know now that he was a Britannian teenager. Seriously, like, what?

Zero took a deep breath. "I'm needed elsewhere. Time is of the essence, and I need to command my troops. Meanwhile," he explained, pausing and looking directly at Tamaki, "the Black Knights stationed here at the command center will _protect the innocent_."

Ohgi swelled with understanding and purpose at the order.

"Geez, I heard you!" Tamaki groaned. Why didn't Zero ever give him a break?

Rivalz-the-blue-haired-cool-punk bit his lip. "Lelouch," he ventured, still hesitating a bit. Finally he seemed to muster up his courage. "What about Suzaku?"

Tamaki scowled at the question. The topic of Suzaku Kururugi always made him so damn angry. The traitor was going down! The vengeful Black Knight's ears were buzzing with fury so much that he almost missed his leader's answer.

"…Suzaku had his chance," Zero murmured. "He made his choice." His arms clutched Nunnally tightly, her face frozen in shock at his answer.

Tamaki came to his senses a bit, raised an eyebrow, and shared a bewildered glance with Ohgi and Minami. Zero sounded _regretful_. Resigned, determined, but still somehow sad at the outcome with their enemy. Kallen seemed to deflate with understanding.

Milly-the-blonde-with-the-nice-rack only sighed, her eyes tearing up. "Oh, Lelouch," she sniffled. "Can't you find a different way? He's your best friend."

Immediately, Tamaki's blood boiled. _He_ held the title of Zero's Best Friend! How dare that Kururugi! Trying to steal Zero's friendship! And what did that blonde chick think anyway? She must be stupid. Yeah. Kururugi was Zero's _enemy_. There was no way they were _friends_.

Ohgi was staring at Zero with something like pity in his eyes, or maybe it was just sympathy. Tamaki was never really good at figuring that stuff out. But it didn't matter because there was no reason to feel bad for Zero for having to fight his best friend because _Kururugi couldn't be his friend anyway_. Right? Right.

"Of course I'll do what I can," Zero assured the blonde, smoothing a hand over Nunnally's hair again. "On that note, I really do need to get back to things. I've been away from my duties for too long." He glanced at everyone in the room again before saying in a low voice, "It goes without saying that it's in your best interest to keep quiet about everything you've learned." That totally didn't sound like a threat; Tamaki _knew_ Zero's threats. The masked teenage rebellion leader sighed and added, "I promise to explain more after we win back Japan from Britannia."

Tamaki's heart swelled at the confident prediction of victory. _There_ was the Zero he knew! Finally back to normal. Tamaki could relax now.

Kallen, Minami, and Ohgi all nodded, used to following Zero's orders. The night's revelations didn't change the facts that they had a battle to win and, Britannian student or not, Zero was still the most capable leader they'd ever had. He'd proven himself worthy of his Black Knights' loyalty. Tamaki knew none of his comrades would spill the beans about Zero, especially with a battle going on and with Zero's promise to explain more later. He'd only explain if they kept up their end of the unspoken agreement and kept their lips sealed. Which Tamaki would, because he totally didn't have a big mouth.

The students glanced uncertainly at each other. Shirley's face set into a determined scowl and she opened her mouth, most likely to protest.

Before she could speak, Zero addressed her specifically. "Shirley, I already promised to explain. I just can't right now." He waved a hand at the window, reminding everyone of the battle going on in the Tokyo Settlement.

Tamaki rolled his eyes. Again. Babes could be so clingy. He definitely understood his best buddy's pain. (Because again, he was Zero's best friend, not that godawful Kururugi. Freaking Kururugi.)

The students finally seemed to back down and agree to Zero's words, nodding amongst themselves. It wasn't like they had much choice in the matter anyway.

Zero turned to his Knights. "Ohgi, I need you to stay here and guard them." He hugged his sister before gently placing her back in her wheelchair. "Especially Nunnally," he said softly. The girl in question smiled hesitantly through her tears.

"Yes, Zero," Ohgi answered reverently. He sent a warm look at the students, even though the most important of them couldn't see it.

Tamaki scowled. Even though they'd already gone over why, it was still annoying that Zero just gave his job to Ohgi. Oh well. Ohgi was so soft-hearted, he'd probably be a better fit posted here. That just meant Tamaki had more opportunity to get out there and bust some Britannian ass—

"Minami, take over Ohgi's original duties and man the communications."

The bespectacled purple-haired Knight nodded. "Of course, Zero."

"Tamaki…" Zero hesitated. "Get out."

Tamaki blinked. "Huh?"

"Stay away from my sister. Those are your orders."

Tamaki leaned forward, befuddled. "Yeah, but—what else?" Why didn't Zero ever trust him with the important jobs?

Zero seemed to think on it, looking back and forth between Nunnally and Tamaki. Finally, he concluded, "You can go with Kallen to join Tohdoh on the front lines by the Britannian Government Bureau."

Yeah! The front lines! The volatile Black Knight jumped up and pumped his fist in the air. Zero was giving him a chance to show the Britannian bastards what he was made of! Zero was _the man!_ Tamaki suddenly remembered why he _loved_ the guy.

Still, before he went out to rain havoc on the enemy—and maybe win this war single-handedly for Zero and Japan—there was something Tamaki wanted to see. He turned to his leader and asked, "Hey, can't you, I dunno…maybe take off your mask now that we know you're some Brit boy named Lulu?"

"Tamaki, _get out!_ "

Zero was still insanely scary when he was furious. Tamaki totally called it.


	2. Never Mind

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I do not own Code Geass. I make no profit from writing this fanfiction.
> 
> A/N: Thank you to everyone who has commented, left kudos, etc! You all are the best. :D
> 
> Several lines of dialogue were taken from [dub] canon in the production of this fic.

Diethard yawned. He'd finished the work Zero assigned him, and his blood was itching for excitement. There were more boring parts being part of the Black Knights than he'd expected when signing up. He wished something would happen.

His whole face lit up when his phone started ringing, especially once he noticed who was calling. (Diethard might have had a little—er, huge—fanboy crush on Zero. Everyone in the Order of the Black Knights noticed, but they all let it slide because their masked leader himself didn't seem bothered by being treated like an honest-to-god idol.)

"Diethard!" Zero's urgent voice was barking orders at him before he even said hello, making the blond media man's heart race in response. "This is a Code Red. I repeat, a Code Red. Gather a team and rendezvous at Ashford Academy…"

-+-

Lelouch's fingers trembled the tiniest bit as he moved his chess piece. He looked up at Mao and knew the cracks in his mask were widening with every play, and Nunnally was inching towards death with every turn. He'd told Suzaku to stay with Nunnally underground. If the bomb went off, he'd lose both of them. He couldn't afford that on a personal level, and Mao knew it, the damn bastard. Every trick he thought of was easily sidestepped by the mind-reader, and Lelouch began to despair of wriggling out of this one. His eyes kept straying to the rigged pendulum scale linked to the chessboard, and he found it harder and harder to focus.

"I'm afraid you're not the type of person who can keep your mind empty. There's a part of you that's a critic, constantly watching your own moves. And there's another part that's an observer, watching the critic, watching you. You're _that_ kind of person," Mao psycho-analyzed him.

Lelouch glared at him and kept trying to win. The chess match continued, one-sided, and Lelouch truly began to fear for his sister's and best friend's lives. Mao was crushing him effortlessly. Was this how trapped his opponents felt when they played against him? But nothing so precious was on the line—

Mao scoffed, "Ah, your last plan is failing as well. You underestimated me. That's why your sister is—"

The chapel doors burst open, and Ohgi and Diethard barreled through with guns up. Inoue and Yoshida slipped in behind them as back-up. They all froze upon seeing the situation.

Lelouch spared his Knights a shocked glance. _What are they doing here?!_ Dismissing them seconds later, he turned his attention back to his opponent. Nunnally's kidnapper was a bigger concern.

-+-

The chapel doors burst open, and Ohgi and Diethard barreled through with guns up. Inoue and Yoshida slipped in behind them as back-up. They all froze upon seeing a desperate Britannian boy standing across from a bandaged man from the Chinese Federation. In between the two lay a chessboard, rigged to some sinister looking machine with a pendulum scale.

Diethard's eyes narrowed thoughtfully as he took it all in, remembering how Jeremiah and Villetta had shared speculations about how a Britannian student was linked to Zero. They'd asked him to research Ashford Academy, but his digging hadn't resulted in anything worthwhile. The boy spared them a surprised glance before turning his attention back to his opponent.

"Mao," murmured Inoue, voice barely audible in the chapel. "That's the guy Zero had us hunting."

Stunned, the white-haired player—Mao—whipped around to face the Black Knights before turning and pointing an accusing finger at the Britannian boy. "You!" he raged. "You deployed the Black Knights after all? But how!" He fiddled with a white chess piece before grinning maniacally and shouting, "It doesn't matter! Your sister is _dead! Dead, dead,_ _ **DEAD**_ _!_ " And before anyone could react, he threw his chess piece on the scale, making the needle swing into the red zone.

Anguish and shock washed over the Britannian boy's face, and Ohgi took a step forward to help. Yoshida took hold of the original resistance leader's elbow and held him back, noticing how dangerous that move would be considering the circumstances. Ohgi stopped with a grim look, continuing to watch as the black-haired student suffered and let out a strangled cry—"Nunnally!"—and fell to the floor. The light in his purple eyes dimmed, and he seemed frozen to the world even as the crazy man took out a small camera and sneered, "Let's see if she's burst into tiny pieces yet!"

Seeing as the target was distracted, Ohgi signaled his team to move. Before they'd taken two steps, the glass window opposite them shattered as a somewhat familiar Japanese teenager busted in. Lightning quick, he _dodged bullets_ and sucker-punched Mao in the face, sending the man's visor flying and making him drop his weapon in the process. The brunet student-soldier kicked the gun out of reach, and Yoshida ran forward to grab it.

The Black Knights moved to surround the two, listening as the Japanese boy introduced himself. "I am Warrant Officer Suzaku Kururugi of the Britannian military, and _you_ are under arrest."

A brief, instinctive fear ran through all the Black Knights' minds that the boy soldier was talking to them as well, but his attention seemed zeroed in on the crazy one. The black-haired Britannian student lifted himself to his feet in the background, slowly coming out of his daze. Inoue and Ohgi offered him reassuring smiles, but he only blinked at them and looked at his classmate, uttering a quiet and pained, "Suzaku."

Mao stared up at Suzaku incredulously. "You disarmed the bomb?!"

The Black Knights recoiled. What bomb?

"But that's impossible!" Mao screamed. "You'd have to have matched your speed to the pendulum!"

"That's right," Suzaku agreed. " _After_ Lelouch showed me which line to cut."

The Britannian student took a hesitant step forward. " _I_ showed you…?"

Suzaku foolishly took his eyes off the unbound criminal for a moment to look at the other boy. (It was a good thing the Black Knights were there to make sure Mao didn't get away.) "What are you saying? It was your plan. Cut the line and bust in here when I heard you scream."

"My plan…?" The black-haired student seemed to suddenly realize something, and he took out his reflective phone to stare at his face.

The Black Knights glanced back and forth between the two Ashford students and the white-haired man. Something wasn't adding up here. Diethard's brow furrowed at the questions on top of questions.

Suzaku started to grab a bandaged arm, but the man struggled. Yoshida rushed forward to help, passing the extra gun to Inoue along the way. Suzaku blinked at the back-up, evidently only now realizing that he had company. He shot a confused look at his classmate, kept safely behind a defensive line.

"Yes, it's exactly what you're thinking," yelled the white-haired man, still twisting about. "That broken boy _is_ the almighty Zero. What a let-down, isn't he? I beat him. _I beat him_." His maniacal laughter rang around the chapel, tapering off into the sky through the broken window. It was a miracle no one from the school came to investigate.

At Mao's words, Ohgi gasped and took a step back. Inoue turned around to stare at the boy, eyes widening. Diethard gave him a cursory look but only nodded, leveling his gun at the laughing madman as if to communicate, 'Yes, and?'

Suzaku looked hurt and betrayed, dropping the criminal's arm as his attention shifted. Yoshida was too busy trying to restrain the target by himself to fully process that his masked leader's identity had just been disclosed.

The Britannian boy himself—Zero? For real?—slowly stepped forward at the revelation, pushing past his Black Knights. His now hard gaze was trained on the screaming target.

"No, that's _not_ the best I can do!" shrieked the madman from out of nowhere. "You, you think you're so clever, Lulu! Coming up with all your plans and back-up plans, and then using your Geass on yourself to forget!"

Suzaku kept staring wide-eyed at the Britannian student, and the Black Knights looked amongst themselves in confusion. Diethard remembered Villetta's and Jeremiah's accounts about strange memory loss. Could it be true? Did this boy, did _Zero_ , possess a supernatural power? Was that the source of his miracles?

The madman continued, "Don't think that gives you an edge! You've already used your little trick on yourself, so you can't do it again. I'm still not beaten and you're out of options. _You can't win_."

The unmasked Zero stopped and raised a condescending eyebrow.

"What do you mean, you already won?" yelled the bandaged man. "Maybe I'm outnumbered, but I'm not going down yet. Remember that I can read _everyone's_ thoughts at once, so I'm always a step ahead. Some of _them_ have delicious secrets, too!" His mad flailing earned him one free arm, and Yoshida struggled to keep him in check.

Mao could read _thoughts_? That explained the one-sided conversation. Unless he really was insane. Or maybe… Diethard inched to the side to cover the Britannian student more fully, mind racing. Zero wasn't the only one with a power, then. Ohgi almost dropped his gun, looking a little panicked. Diethard spared him a second of wondering. Did Ohgi have something to hide?

Mao rounded on Suzaku, who was still staring at his classmate with a mentally scarred expression. "Take this brat, for example!" the white-haired man sneered, grabbing the brunet schoolboy by the collar with his free hand. Suzaku startled and began struggling, but Mao shut him down quick with a loud, "Don't bother trying, father-killer!"

Suzaku immediately froze, his expression twisting even further. His breathing quickened and his eyes dilated in shock.

The Black Knights seemed taken aback by the revelation, and their gazes on Suzaku ranged from accusing to sympathetic. Even Yoshida let go of Mao and stumbled back, eyes wide. The black-haired Britannian student looked stunned.

Sensing he had the advantage, Mao dragged Suzaku a few steps back and kept ridiculing, "You killed your own father seven years ago. He called for do-or-die resistance, and you thought stopping him would end the war." He held Suzaku out in front of him like a meat shield and kept ranting, "What a childish idea. The fact is, you're a murderer!"

"That's not true! I just…I…" Suzaku protested weakly, his words trailing off.

Diethard tilted his head, eyes hungry. It seemed Zero wasn't the only one with a thrilling story. He wished he had his camera so he could document this.

"How _lucky_ for you that no one ever found out. All the adults _lied_ to protect you," Mao sneered.

The Britannian boy stepped forward and spoke, voice slightly questioning, "All the reports said his suicide was a protest against military action."

"A big, fat lie! All of it!" Mao revealed, apparently reading the truth straight out of Suzaku's mind.

"A lie…?" echoed the Britannian boy.

Ohgi gasped. "You mean…the war was…"

"I didn't have any choice! If I didn't, Japan would have—" Suzaku tried to explain and sent a desperate, pleading look at his classmate—Zero?—before staring back at the mind-reader.

"That's how you justify it in retrospect? Well, it explains your death-wish!" snapped Mao.

Suzaku physically recoiled, mouth dropping open even further. He struggled to get out words but only managed pained croaks. Inoue cringed in sympathy at the obvious emotional torture he was enduring.

"You want to save people's lives? It's your own wretched soul you're trying to save. That's why you're always charging into danger, placing yourself on the edge of death!"

Hyperventilating now, Suzaku let out a scream of pure raw agony and fell to his knees.

"You're no hero! You're just trying to wash the blood off your hands! A little brat, begging to be punished!"

" _Mao,_ _ **never**_ _speak again_!" The look on the Britannian student's face morphed into pure rage, and he flung his arm out in a manner identical to Zero's.

The Black Knights were astounded when the white-haired man suddenly started making choking and gargling noises instead of words. (Ohgi actually dropped his gun, he was so startled.) The black-haired boy lurched forward and aimed a weak punch at the bandaged man, standing over the fallen Kururugi boy protectively. (Yoshida winced at how pathetic his punch was. Inoue mentally went 'Aww' because it was touching how Zero tried so valiantly to defend his classmate.) Zero had always stood back and worked his mind games and tricks from a reasonable distance; the Black Knights had _never_ seen him go in for a _punch_. Kururugi must be really important to him to have evoked such a reaction. Following his lead, the Black Knights again started to surround their target. (Ohgi had, by this point, thankfully picked up his weapon.) Mao clutched at his throat and somehow escaped their circle, staggering quickly down the chapel aisle.

Still glaring, the Britannian boy snapped, "Don't just stand there. Yoshida, Inoue, after him!"

It was a testament to how much they still inherently trusted him that they immediately jumped into action and followed his orders. There would be time later for answers, after the current threat was neutralized. Between the two of them, they were easily able to chase down the Chinese man (who seemed distracted by his odd guttural noises) and tackle him to the floor. Yoshida kneed Mao in the back and kept him pinned, and Inoue threatened him with a loaded gun in his face.

The boy—Zero—breathed a sigh of relief before spinning around and kneeling next to his fallen friend. "Suzaku?" he ventured softly. "Is he…did you really…?"

Suzaku gave him such a look of guilt and self-loathing that the black-haired boy only nodded.

"I see," the Britannian boy said, his voice as comforting as the Black Knights had ever heard Zero. He went on to spout crazy politics about the cover-up being necessary for both sides of the war, but his reassurances and justifications did the trick and helped Suzaku visibly relax.

Still catching his breath, Suzaku leaned closer to the Britannian boy and asked desperately, "And are _you_ really…?"

All the Black Knights froze, their ears pricked.

Instead of answering outright, the Britannian boy turned the question back on the soldier. "What do you think?"

Suzaku closed his eyes and inhaled deeply. "I think…it would explain why you're missing so much class, Lelouch." His eyes popped open and he amended, "No, really. I suspected you at first but I didn't want to believe it, so I convinced myself I was imagining things. I guess I'm not too surprised."

Diethard raised an eyebrow in the background. The Kururugi boy had suspected Zero's true identity but kept his ideas to himself? This story was turning into a hit.

"But you're still mad," the boy—Lelouch—discerned.

The brunet snorted. "Well, yeah. Of course." He glared and accused, "You got Nunnally dragged into your illegally dangerous messes! She almost died, Lelouch!"

The black-haired boy flinched away, his face twisting. Lowering his head in shame, he mumbled, "Mao had nothing to do with my rebellion."

"Uh huh," Suzaku skeptically shot back. "That explains why you called the Black Knights in to deal with him." He turned his glare on Ohgi and Diethard.

Diethard cocked his head at the Japanese teen. "Don't look at us. We're not the ones who killed our own fathers and interfered with the war."

Jerking back, Suzaku wrapped his arms around himself and looked down at the broken window glass, suitably shut down.

" _That's enough_ ," chastised the unmasked Zero. "Everyone is here for the same reason: to subdue Mao and save Nunnally. I wasn't going to take any chances, so I admit I went a bit overboard with the back-up. I wasn't picky about who answered my call when time was running short, Suzaku. My Knights dropped everything to help with this emergency. I didn't know how things would play out against a psychotic mind-reader, so I used all the resources at my disposal. Diethard, you will apologize to Suzaku for your harsh comment. That was uncalled for." The rebuke flowed seamlessly from his explanation, as if it was all one big point.

Inclining his head, the blond Black Knight murmured, "Understood, Zero." Cold blue eyes peered at the mess of broken Japanese boy on the floor, and the media man apologized under his breath. His gaze cut back to the proud Britannian boy. "How did you force Mao to stop talking?"

Ohgi nodded frantically. "Yeah, that was really freaky!"

"Was it one of your miracles?" called Inoue, still jabbing her gun in her target's face.

Suzaku cocked his head, as if he hadn't realized his classmate had managed something abnormally spectacular in the wake of all his emotional distress. "What happened, Lelouch?" he asked slowly.

The Britannian boy smirked. "Shall I show you in action?"

"Yes!" begged Diethard, resisting the urge to jump up and down. He was dying to see Zero's power up close and personal.

Looking a bit apprehensive, Ohgi nodded wordlessly and gripped his gun tighter.

Inoue and Yoshida glanced at one another briefly before staring at the Britannian teen and shrugging. They were more focused on Mao.

Smirk growing, Lelouch walked over to Inoue and Yoshida. In his usual commanding tone, he ordered, "Kill Mao and dispose of his body properly. When you're done, go back to base and forget everything that happened here today."

"Yes, Zero," both Black Knights said mechanically. Inoue pulled the trigger right in Mao's face.

Suzaku screamed, sounding horrified, and jolted to his feet. Ohgi shrank back with a full-body shudder. Diethard grit his teeth and stood his ground, eyes never leaving Zero, wondering how his leader had managed to pull it off.

The two Black Knights picked up Mao's body between them and started hauling it away, as if they didn't notice anything else around them. Their movements were a bit stiff and stilted, but nothing else seemed out of place as they carried the corpse away from the scene until they were all out of sight. Amazingly, no one seemed to notice two suspicious people carrying a dead body away from a popular, prestigious school.

"How did you do that?" Diethard asked eagerly.

" _Why_ did you do that?" Suzaku added, his disturbed eyes trained on the bloody bits of Mao still scattered on the floor. He couldn't stop trembling.

Chuckling, Zero answered, "It's my Geass power. It lets me control people. Watch." Ignoring his classmate's question, he turned to Ohgi and initiated direct eye-contact. "Wait for me to bring you supplies and then clean up the mess on the ground. When you're done, go back to base and forget everything that happened here today."

At once, Ohgi froze up and replied, "Yes, Zero, of course." He went to sit idly in a pew and stare unseeingly at the wall.

Suzaku dry-heaved. "Lelouch, I don't understand," he whimpered. "This is all so…"

"This is amazing!" gushed Diethard. "You can really make anyone do anything you want? They have to obey you? And then they forget what they did? Zero, that's such a wonderful power! Can I see it again, Zero, please? Please?"

Blinking, the boy Zero tilted his head and walked over to Suzaku. "Don't worry, Suzaku," he murmured, in that same warm, caring tone he'd used with the brunet before. "Forgetting today will be a mercy for you. And…I'm sorry. About everything."

"Wha—" Suzaku gasped, going quiet as the Britannian boy interrupted him.

"—Suzaku, leave for now, forget what happened here today, and then treat yourself to something good. You deserve it, my friend," the Britannian teen ordered softly, his lips curving in a bittersweet smile.

Green eyes widened but in a second, like the others, the Japanese boy robotically complied and left the chapel, presumably putting everything from his mind.

With a sigh, Zero murmured to his back off in the distance, "Forgive me, Suzaku. I never wanted to use the power on you. But, this is what's best. You've been too traumatized today, and if I can free you of any of your burdens…"

Diethard narrowed his eyes. "Kururugi's your friend?" he asked, not judgmental but a little taken aback. Forget hits. This story was going to be a blockbuster.

"He's my best friend," Zero explained, his violet eyes glinting. "But, Diethard, you won't remember any of this—"

-+-

Diethard yawned. He'd finished the work Zero assigned him, and his blood was itching for excitement. There were more boring parts being part of the Black Knights than he'd expected when signing up. He wished something would happen.


	3. Black Knights Initiation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The one in which the Black Knights knew ALLLLL along.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I do not own Code Geass. I make no profit from writing this fanfiction.
> 
> A/N: Thank you to everyone who has commented, left kudos, etc! You all are the best. :D
> 
> Sorry for the drabble-length. I'm proud of myself for managing to write a short idea. xD 
> 
> Set around episode 16 of R1.

“I guess since you’re a sworn-in member, you should be privy to what us top people know,” Ohgi said, motioning for Diethard to take a seat. The mobile base was empty except for the two of them, so he cut straight to the chase. “You know Zero? His real name is Lelouch Lamperouge, but even that is just a cover-story for his real identity: Prince Lelouch vi Britannia.”

Diethard gaped. “Wha?”

A hint of a smile quirked Ohgi’s lips. “Yeah. He’s also just a high school junior, only seventeen.” He ticked points off his fingers. “Goes to Ashford Academy. Britannian, obviously.”

“Why doesn’t Zero tell me this himself?” Diethard demanded, his eyebrows scrunching together.

Ohgi awkwardly rubbed the back of his head. “Oh, Lelouch—I mean, Zero, has never said anything to anybody.”

Diethard blinked rapidly. “Wait, so he is unaware that you all know his identity?”

Ohgi nodded. “Totally oblivious. Goes to such great lengths to ‘hide’ his identity. None of us want to ruin his fun, you know?”

“He does love his dramatics,” Diethard said, nodding along. “So how did you find out?”

Ohgi shot him an “are-you-kidding-you-must-be-stupid” look. “We’re an organization,” he said slowly. “We have people whose _job_ it is to gather secret intel. Did you really think we’d just join up with some crazy in a mask?” Before Diethard could answer, Ohgi ranted, “No, we did our research before acting, thank you very much.”

Diethard’s nods tapered off. “So you all just…pretend…to not know who he really is.”

Again, Ohgi nodded. He forcibly calmed himself down, knowing how surreal this must be to take in. He couldn’t imagine if Zero ever found out that they’d been playing him the whole time. “That’s the gist of it. So! Welcome to the Black Knights.”


End file.
